George Pirtle Evans earned degrees from Vanderbilt and the University of Chicago.

After a brief period teaching in Louisiana, he joined the English staff at the University of Texas. He moved to Huntsville in 1925 and taught at SHSTC for only five years before taking a leave of absence to teach at Stanford (1934-35) and again at the University of Texas. He was nearing the completion of his Ph.D. in Austin shortly before he died.The Evans English Building was named in his honor.